


fly away home

by sizhu



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angsty Schmoop, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Implied Relationships, M/M, implied dino/squalo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-22
Updated: 2015-12-22
Packaged: 2018-05-08 12:45:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5497538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sizhu/pseuds/sizhu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i><b>nostomania:</b> (n). intense homesickness; an irresistible compulsion to return home.</i>
</p><p> </p><p>Dino breaks down in TakeSushi. </p><p>Takeshi to the rescue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	fly away home

Dino had spent so much time in Japan with the tenth generation of Vongola that sometimes he just… Wanted to quit. Don't get him wrong, of course, he certainly loved his honorary little brother and really, _really_ wanted to help him get accustomed to the life and routine of being the boss of a large family. And he certainly enjoyed terrorizing said little brother's petulant Cloud Guardian – it was always perhaps a little too much fun, egging him on and taking him down a notch or two. People might consider him a bully for fighting with a kid almost seven years his junior, but clearly those people had never met Hibari Kyoya. The kid was a monster; he only _looked_ human.

But all that was beside the point. Dino missed home. He missed his hot summers and cool, wet winters, he missed his Arno, and the Tuscan fields on the edge of his city seen from the windows of the Cavallone Estate. He missed his city. He missed strolling the Ponte Vecchio, poking curiously about the numerous stilted shops on the edges of the bridge. He missed the food of his home, the beautiful red wines produced just miles from his city. He missed his people. He missed his friends.

He missed Squalo.

Dino sighed heavily, pushing food around his plate with the clumsy chopsticks. He finally took a bite; it took all he had not to grimace. In daydreaming about a nice _bistecca fiorentina_ , he had forgotten, momentarily, that he was eating out – alone – and had originally been enjoying a sashimi dish from TakeSushi. It was a shocking wake up call. It was a trying moment for him to snap out of it, to try not to break down in the Yamamoto family restaurant. Dino missed home. He was already forgetting what his homeland's food tasted like, and even when he cooked it himself, it just wasn't the same. Occasionally, he felt like he was losing his language. Once he had to turn to Romario and ask him for a word he was looking for in Italian, even though he knew the Japanese form of the word off the top of his head.

Once he had asked Romario if Squalo would like something he was buying.

 

It went on like that for a couple years—with Dino slowly distancing himself from Tsuna and the others. Eventually, even Hibari noticed that Dino wasn't his usual vivacious self, wasn't taking an interest in their brawls—didn't care when Hibari beat him into the concrete and only halfheartedly boasted that "You can do better than that, Kyoya," when Dino trounced him thoroughly and had him wrapped up in the whip.

Takeshi had noticed first. He always was keenly observant, even if everyone else thought him a dense baseball idiot (he liked it better that way, honestly). He'd let it go at first, back years ago when Dino was at his and his dad's restaurant and eating sashimi. Takeshi had noticed the well-disguised grimace. His dad had, too. His dad had been the one to explain to him that Dino missed his home—a concept difficult to grasp for someone who had only been abroad for a short vacation (Dino had been incredibly generous to Takeshi). But Takeshi had let that first display of homesickness go. There was nothing he or his dad could do, anyway. Was there?

Then Gokudera and Tsuna noticed. But Gokudera, though he understood the concept of homesickness, knew that he couldn't do anything for the Cavallone Don. There wasn't much his precious Tenth could do, either. Tsuna had to stay where he was—his strongest guardian had unresolved issues about leaving Namimori and it was dangerous for Tsuna to just pick up and leave, to take Dino abroad for a trip home. Even if Tsuna wanted to, he couldn't (his Italian still had a _long_ way to go). Besides, why didn't Dino just go home or a little while? He'd done it before. He certainly had the money for it. And he was an adult. It's not like he needed a parent or guardian (heh… no pun intended) to take him to the airport and see him off.

What they didn't know—what only Romario knew—was that Dino felt obligated to stay and make sure things went smoothly. Romario also knew that if Dino left to visit home, it would be exceedingly difficult for him to return to Japan, no matter his obligations.

What not even Romario knew, though, was that it was _dangerous_ for Dino to go home. Going home meant keeping up appearances. Going home meant obligations to spend football nights with Xanxus and Squalo while pretending being there didn't hurt is god damn broken heart. Pretending that he wasn't jealous—envious, upset, angry, every emotion in the book—that Xanxus had the devotion of his best friend. The best friend who shared detention with him all throughout school, who got him out of trouble and saved his ass more times than either of them could count. The best friend who promised to be _Best Friends Forever_.

Well. It turned out that forever ended when Xanxus showed up.

Dino missed Squalo more than he missed home.

But home, but Italy, was where Squalo was. Where Squalo was completely one hundred percent devoted to someone who threw things at him and treated him like shit all day long. Sure, Xanxus had no idea how to show affection in any other way, but still—that was _Squalo_ he was mistreating. Squalo who was always the loyal friend whose devotion deserved so much better than a wine bottle to the back of the head.

What he would give to go back in time. To spend the summer storms out in the rain with Squalo, counting lightning strikes. Watching the sky clear and the colors gleam between the clouds— _un'arcobaleno,_ that was the word, yes. He still remembered it. Good. God, what he would give to go back to the days before Xanxus showed up and his friend ditched him, left him alone against the wolf that was Reborn—with no one to go to after a day of borderline abusive training.

Stop. He had to stop.

He was treading dangerous, dangerous territory.

Dino put his chopsticks down, finally. He pushed his plate away from him and took a shuddering breath. Keep calm, keep calm. Don't break down in front of your little brother's best friend and his dad. Don't be the weeping foreigner in the sushi restaurant. Don't embarrass Takeshi and Tsuyoshi. You can embarrass yourself all you want but don't embarrass them and their kindness.

Takeshi washed and dried his hands, placing the towel down as he skirted his way around the counter. He took the food from Dino's table and discreetly disposed of it before returning to Dino. He looked toward his father and gestured toward the ceiling—he would be taking Dino upstairs, away from the lunch crowd. Tsuyoshi nodded at him, acknowledging the gesture. So Takeshi, despite being much younger than Dino (he wasn't a gangly teenager anymore, after all—he'd grown up watching Dino suffer alone in silence), slipped his arm around Dino's torso and put Dino's arm around his shoulders. Dino reacted minimally—he moved with Takeshi, neither assisting nor hindering his efforts. He was just—just. Takeshi walked the despondent blond up the stairs, humming softly to him. Takeshi walked him to his bedroom and sat him down in the chair at his desk and let go of him. Dino instinctively seized Takeshi's hands back, clenching them tightly in his calloused fingers.

"Dino-san? It's okay." Takeshi didn't try to free his hands, even though Dino's grip was like a vice. Dino needed this, so it was okay. Takeshi didn't mind a few bruises—Gokudera was harder on him than Dino ever had been. "The people are gone now. You're not in public…"

Dino's shoulders slumped and he slouched forward, head bent against Takeshi's chest. His body shuddered and he started to cry—an aching, pitying sound that was also somehow strangled, as it had been held back and caged for too long. Takeshi finally freed his fingers from Dino's grip and wrapped his arms around those broad shoulders. He pet his hair, trying to be soothing and supportive without being overbearing. Dino's fingers found Takeshi's shirt and he clung like a starved, abused animal.

"I want to go home, Takeshi…"

"Why don't you…?"

"Because I can't…" Dino buried his face into Takeshi's chest, shoulders trembling.

Takeshi didn't quite understand, but he didn't question it. He offered, instead, "Do you want me to go with you? It'd be like last time."

"…Yes." Dino finally took a deep breath. "Yes, please."

Takeshi smiled and kissed the top of Dino's head, rubbing his back. "We haven't been on a vacation together in years."

"Vacation." Dino repeated. "Yes. I'm—not going home. We're going on vacation…"

 

All rain is not equal.

Sometimes it takes a gentle spring shower to wash away the summer storms.

If they ran into Squalo or the others (and they probably would, because their world was a small one), Dino had ground to keep him standing.

Romario, at least, would be pleased that Dino was getting a taste of home again after all.

**Author's Note:**

> hi my name is momo 
> 
> i wrote a sad thing
> 
> i made myself cry while writing said sad thing


End file.
